“I am very excited to have Stephen join our staff”, said Miners manager Mike Pinto. “He has been a successful hitter, played on a championship team and had success working with hitters. With Ralph taking leave to work on his business, it was very important that we bring in the right guy to fill that role and I am thrilled we were able to convince Stephen to be part of the Miners organization again”.
Holdren was a five-time all-star in the Frontier League (2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011) and was named Frontier League Most Valuable Player (Morgan Burkhardt Award) in 2011. He was named to the 2011 First-Team Baseball America All-Independent Team. He finished his Frontier League career as a .302 hitter with 100 homeruns and 351 runs batted in. He logged a career .416 on-base percentage, .541 slugging percentage and .957 OPS. He’s in the top three in Frontier League history in every career offensive category. He set over fifteen single season, career and postseason team records over the span of four full seasons.
Holdren returns to Southern Illinois after an extensive playing career in professional baseball. Holdren first joined the Miners via a four player trade with the Gateway Grizzlies on July 29, 2009. He was named to the Frontier League All-Star team that season after hitting a combined .311 with 20 home runs, 25 doubles and 56 runs batted in. He led the league in runs scored (84) and broke the Grizzlies single season slugging record with an average of .627. Holdren finished the league’s top five in on-base percentage, doubles and total bases. He finished in the league’s top ten in home runs, hits, walks and OPS.
“Having been a Miner, he knows the expectations and standards that we aim to set in this organization”, Pinto added. “I know how hard he works, how dedicated he is to hitters, to winning, to improving each day and I have great confidence that our hitters will enjoy working with him.”
Last season, Holdren finished his playing career by splitting time with the Lincoln SaltDogs of the American Association and Lancaster Barnstormers of the Atlantic League. He played for former Boston Red Sox manager Butch Hobson in Lancaster. His season was cut short due to an injury and illness after only 23 at-bats. His final at-bat was a battle of lefties as he faced two-time Major League Baseball All-Star and World Series Champion Dontrelle Willis.
After leaving Lancaster, Holdren finished the season as the hitting coach for the Joliet Slammers in the Frontier League. He inherited a club with a league worst .221 batting average. Over the final 21 games of the season he helped the Slammers average over nine hits a game and a .261 batting average.
Holdren’s playing career spanned over eight seasons and had the ability to play in both affiliated and independent baseball. His professional career began in 2006 after he finished with Texas A&M University. He split time with the Seattle Mariners organization, Kansas City T-Bones of the Northern League, Rockford Aviators and Windy City ThunderBolts of the Frontier League.
From joining Rockford and eventually WindyCity in 2006, Holdren played throughout the bulk of his career in the Frontier League until 2011. In 2007, Holdren signed with the Gateway Grizzlies and played with them until 2009. After leaving Southern Illinois, he signed with the River City Rascals and played with them in 2010 and 2011. He was traded to Lincoln of the American Association during the offseason prior to the 2012 season. He was voted as Newcomer of the Year and MVP by the fans and media. After suffering a serious ankle injury in August that season, he recovered to finish as the team leader in hits, homeruns and runs batted in.
